where does table salt that we eat come from?

Answer 1

Explaining the differences




The salts we eat are all derived from seawater, but fine differences, created during harvest and processing, distinguish three popular types: sea salt, kosher salt and table salt.

True sea salt comes from a process that involves evaporating shallow pools of seawater. Its crystals range from coarse to fine. Most other salts are mined from underground beds that were part of the sea millions of years ago. Kosher salt, so named because it is used during “koshering” to purify meats and poultry in a blanket of salt, is a coarse, irregular crystal. Table salt, on the other hand, is always a uniform, fine crystal, formed during rapid vacuum evaporation of the brine of mined salt.

Kosher, sea and table salts consist of 99 percent sodium chloride, and are thus essentially identical in makeup. Some salt connoisseurs swear they can detect the anticaking agents added to most table salts to make it free-flowing. But taste buds react differently to varying crystal sizes, says Jim Barron at Morton Salt. Coarser crystals, including those of kosher salt, with their larger surface area, dissolve more slowly, giving them holding power on the tongue and what some people consider a stronger flavor. The compact little cubes of table salt dissolve much faster. “The finer size equals a quicker hit” that is shorter lived, Barron explains.

These salts can be used interchangeably, but not in a one-to-one ratio. Kosher and coarse sea salt have larger crystals that don’t settle into a measuring spoon as tightly as table salt, so there is less sodium per teaspoon. The general rule—2 teaspoons kosher salt equals 1 teaspoon table salt—isn’t always accurate because kosher salt crystals vary in size and density. For example, Morton’s Coarse Kosher Salt crystals are smaller and should be used in a ratio of 1 1⁄4 teaspoon for each 1 teaspoon table salt. Tasting and adding salt in increments is the best way to be sure you achieve the desired seasoning.

Answer 2

Salt comes from a lot of sources.

A lot of it is mined. Just dug up out of the earth. In places like the great salt lake, it gets crusty around the edges and you can just go pick it up. For a long time, San Francisco produced a lot of salt, primarily by drying seawater.

There's a book called Salt by Mark Kurlansky. It has lots of really interesting information on salt. It's a short, easy read. I recommend it. Only $11 on amazon.

Answer 3

Salt is still mined in many parts of the planet.

Answer 4

sodium chloride....
it comes from a rock of salt